, @ 500 men , and he consequently decided that the australians would pursue an aggressive campaign to clear the japanese from bo ##uga ##in ##ville in order to free their troops for subsequent operations elsewhere , rather than maintaining the defensive posture the us forces had adopted . however , allied estimates of japanese strength were later found to be gross ##ly inaccurate and after the war it was found that the number of japanese on the island at this time was closer to 40 @ , @ 000 . the campaign that australian planners developed en ##tail ##ed three separate drives : in the north , it was planned that japanese forces would be forced into the narrow bon ##is peninsula and contained ; in the
, @ 500 men, and he consequently decided that the australians would pursue an aggressive campaign to clear the japanese from bougainville in order to free their troops for subsequent operations elsewhere, rather than maintaining the defensive posture the us forces had adopted. however, allied estimates of japanese strength were later found to be grossly inaccurate and after the war it was found that the number of japanese on the island at this time was closer to 40 @, @ 000. the campaign that australian planners developed entailed three separate drives : in the north, it was planned that japanese forces would be forced into the narrow bonis peninsula and contained ; in the